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Resources updated between Monday, October 21, 2013 and Sunday, October 27, 2013

October 24, 2013

This is a member of Saudi Arabia's delegation to the UN "Human Rights" Council review of the Saudi human rights record. The so-called "Universal Periodic Review" took place on October 21, 2013 in Geneva.

Here is some of what this individual had to say: "Our country has prohibited marriage of any persons who have not reached the age of puberty."

The 2012 State Department report on Saudi Arabia agrees as to the barbarism to which the Saudis willingly admitted: "Sharia suggests girls may marry after reaching puberty. Girls as young as age 10 may be married."

This is a member of Saudi Arabia's delegation to the UN "Human Rights" Council' review of the Saudi human rights record. The so-called "Universal Periodic Review" took place on October 21, 2013 in Geneva.

Here is some of what this individual had to say: "Saudi Arabia doesn't make a distinction between men and women."

Actually, here is what the 2012 State Department report on Saudi Arabia has to say: "The guardianship system requires that every woman have a close male relative as her "guardian" with the legal authority to approve her travel outside of the country ... A guardian also has authority to approve...study at a university or college....Most employers required women have their guardian's permission. A husband who "verbally"...divorces his wife or refuses to sign final divorce papers continues to be her legal guardian. Widespread societal exclusion...restricted women from using many public facilities...The testimony of one man equals that of two women...Most rape cases were unreported because victims faced societal reprisal, diminished marriage opportunities, criminal sanction up to imprisonment, or accusations of adultery."

The UN Committee created to implement the General Assembly's "Zionism is racism" resolution adopted in 1975 is still going strong, despite the resolution itself being rescinded in 1991. On October 21, 2013, the Working Group of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People sponsored at UN Headquarters an attack on Israel's right of self defense. The "panel discussion" was called "Our Harsh Logic – Israeli Soldiers' Testimonies from the Occupied Territories 2000–2010" - featuring one former IDF soldier Avner Gvaryahu from the NGO Breaking the Silence. In his rant against the IDF - webcast courtesy of the UN around the world - Gvaryahu said his family lived happily in Tel Aviv and that he was on a book tour. The chair of the meeting, from the UN Mission of Malta, happily plugged the book repeatedly. Among other things, Gvaryahu said his group had no opinion about a 1 or 2 state solution - apparently because whether or not there should be a Jewish state was "political" and he was just providing "facts." His primary message? War is not very nice and (despite repeated attempts at annihilating the Jewish state) the means of fighting and winning war should be eschewed in favor of book tours. When the floor was opened for "questions", Anne Bayefsky, took the limited opportunity provided to respond.

"A group of Americans visiting Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj were threatened and attacked earlier this week on Oct. 16 by a radicalized group of extremists. On one of the nights where Hajj pilgrims are required to stay overnight in the city of Mina, a group of young men began asking different sets of pilgrims if they were from the United States. When they encountered a group that identified themselves as not only Americans, but also as Shiite Muslims, they were threatened and attacked by the group of men, who were apparently armed with knives and other blades. During the attack, the men reportedly shouted 'Our [holy pilgrimage] will be complete once we have killed you, ripped out your hearts and eaten them, and [then] raped your women.'"